1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to industrial equipment repair tools. More specifically, the present invention relates to tools for reshaping elevator buckets which have been distorted by normal use.
2. Description Of The Prior Art
A series of elevator buckets attached around the periphery of an endless conveyor belt is a commonly used apparatus for movement of loose, particulate matter such as gravel, bark or sawdust. Often, the movement course of such buckets is arranged whereby the buckets dig into a mound of the material to be moved. When working with raw, natural materials of the class described, inevitably an object will be encountered that damages one or more buckets by drawing and stretching the bucket lip to the extent that it will not pick up and hold the intended quantity of material.
Regardless of whatever removable fastener type is used to attach such buckets to the carrier belt, the fastener usually becomes damaged in normal use to such a degree as to make disassembly of the fastener difficult if not impossible. Since a plurality of fasteners are used depending on the size of the bucket, it is not unusual for at least one fastener of the plurality for each bucket to require removal by drilling, sawing or burning.
Moreover, it is often as economical to replace a damaged bucket with a new one since the heavy gauge material from which the buckets are made is usually stretched to a degree which necessitates heating and forging. It is for this reason that prior art implements such as that disclosed by C. F. Porter in his U.S. Pat. No. 1,620,920 is of little use on larger, heavy gauge buckets. While the Porter implement will correct diagonal racking of a bucket, it provides no correction of a stretched scraper or drag lip.
Additional prior art that may be relevant to the present invention is found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,010,713, 2,750,983 and 3,543,561.
What is desired, therefore, is a means whereby such buckets may be inexpensively reformed to a reasonably correct shape. Preferably, the desired means should perform the objective while the bucket remains mounted on the carrier belt thereby obviating the necessity to remove damaged fasteners.